


My Friend Starr

by mpoo



Category: Blood - Fandom, Horror - Fandom, Mystery - Fandom, Short Stories - Fandom, Violence - Fandom, read - Fandom, short - Fandom, stories - Fandom, suspense - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21987247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mpoo/pseuds/mpoo
Summary: I was happy when my friend Starr started making money... but when I found out how, it ruined my life.





	My Friend Starr

_You’re going to think I’m crazy...- no. You’re going to think I’m completely nuts. And I won’t blame you for that. But I want you to know that everything you are about to read is true._

_Now, first, you need to know that Starr was not afraid to ask for help especially when it came to monetary purposes. She would always try to skip out on paying for meals or drinks and when she did decide to pay, she always made a big deal about it; saying “you buy next time.” That is very important for you to understand._

_Do you?_

_Good._  
\---  
Ever since Starr and I were twelve, we had always had at least one sleepover a month and here we are well into our twenties still keeping the tradition alive. She’s never canceled once and neither have I so when she texted me an hour before she was supposed to be at my place that she couldn’t make it, I was shocked and slightly annoyed. I called her immediately to make sure that nothing was wrong and Starr told me she had bagged a last-minute job interview early the next morning. I congratulated her and we rescheduled for the following weekend.  
It didn’t hit me until later that night but Starr looking for a job isn’t normal. Don’t get me wrong I love her and I would die for her but she is as lazy as they come and Starr had never had a job before this. Besides, I had never heard her mention anything about needing money or looking for a job. Of course, I’m not going to dwell on that because it’s not a big deal.  
\---  
_Trust me. It was a huge fucking deal._  
\---  
The next morning I wished Starr luck at her interview via text. I heard from her about four hours later and she told me that she got the job. I knew we had to celebrate this moment but she declined my offer to take her out for a drink; which shocked me even more than the news about her interview. I was happy for her though, and I felt that this could be nothing but positive for her; she was finally turning into an adult.  
~  
Starr had been acting very distant and short with me for the past several days. She canceled our sleepover again and I was lucky to get one text from her at some point

throughout the day. It wasn’t normal for her to be quiet and reserved. She’s a loud, annoying ass girl but that’s what I love about her. The fact that she won’t even talk to me about why she’s acting this way scares me to my core because it must be something bad.  
After finally deciding to confront Starr about her distant behavior, I invited her to my house just to watch some movies. Surely she has time for that, right? When she showed up, she was carrying a Louis Vuitton purse in her left hand and a new iPhone in her right. Starr was always an “Android Girl” but that was because she couldn’t afford an Apple product. Seeing that made me very suspicious. One week of work and she was able to afford that. Possible? Yes. Probable? Nope! Her facial expression and her mood, in general, were dull and unfun but I had to talk to her.

  
“Starr, can I ask you something?”

  
“Sure.” She replied, sitting next to me her face buried in her new phone.

  
“What kind of job did you get?”

  
Starr immediately turned her head to face me, so quickly that I’m surprised she didn’t get whiplash. “Why does it matter?” she snapped.

  
“I’m fucking worried. You tell me everything and we’ve barely talked since you got this job. I just wanna make sure that you’re happy there, that’s all.”

  
Starr’s expression softened only slightly, obviously still in defense mode. “Everything is fine. I’m just tired I guess. It’s a lot of work for a bunch of different people.”

  
“What do you mean ‘different people’?” I questioned. That just didn’t sound right to me.

  
“Don’t worry about me, please. I know what I’m doing.”

  
“What do you mean, Starr?” A little more firmness in my voice this time.

  
Starr just looked down and closed her eyes. She looked completely ashamed. My heart broke for her at that moment because my question had been answered.  
“Starr? Are you... ‘doing favors’ for money?” All she said in return was: “Yeah, something like that.”

I didn’t say anything else. I mean, what was I supposed to say? All I could do was start to cry. I was fucking scared for her. I pass no judgment on people doing what they need to do to survive, but Starr has so many other options to choose from. She just wanted quick and immediate money.  
Starr looked at me again and pulled me in for a hug before I even knew what was happening. “Please don’t. I’m fine, I promise,” she assured me, but I wasn’t buying it.  
“No, you’re not fine. This is so fucked, do you realize that? You could get a disease or get murdered.” I sobbed, trying to get her to understand.  
“I’m not going to get hurt. I can promise you that. You just have to trust me.” Starr said, letting go of me and sitting back against the couch cushion. She gave me a soft, sincere look and I slowly started to calm down. This still wasn’t good but I had to let Starr make her own decision.  
  
The next day I was scrolling through Instagram and came across Starr’s new post. She was wearing a long, navy blue, sequined dress with her hair and makeup professionally done. The caption read: ‘Off to work.’ Why would she need to dress formally for her job? Isn’t she naked the whole time anyway? Real talk. And to make it even more annoying, she was wearing the same dress I wanted to get to my aunt’s wedding, so I know that it’s very expensive. Maybe Starr is on to something with this job? No. Shake it off. I would never do that.  
  
I never mentioned anything to Starr about the photo because it wasn’t worth the argument. Plus, I didn’t want to talk about her profession unless it was necessary. I’m glad that she’s coming over tonight though. We’ve only missed two sleepovers but it feels like I don’t see her anymore.  
When Starr showed up she looked wiped out. There were bags under her eyes, she was wearing old sweats and her hair was a mess. All I want to know is that she isn’t doing drugs. That would put my mind at ease but when I saw her walk in looking like that, I was worried to find out.

  
“Tired?” I said simply

.  
“You have no fucking clue. I’ve been working nonstop.” Starr explained.

I gave her a sympathetic look and we both just sat down and watched Disney movies. I didn’t want to interrogate her about this. I’m sure she isn’t completely happy doing this either and it can’t last forever, right?  
We were only about an hour into Aladdin until Starr’s phone starts ringing. She answered practically immediately as if it was an urgent matter that she was expecting to hear about. Then she smiled. She hung up the phone, jumped up from the couch and started to collect her stuff.

  
“What the hell?” I said loudly.

  
“My boss just found me a $20,000 client. I gotta get the fuck out of here and start getting ready!” she explained.

  
My face went blank for about 10 seconds. “Fucking twenty grand? What kind of sex are you having?” I said in complete shock.

  
Starr shook her head and snickered. “I’m not having any sex.”

  
I had never been so confused in my life. Unfortunately, before I could ask any more questions, Starr was practically out the door and in her car. Who the fuck pays twenty thousand for sex. Actually no, she isn’t having sex for money. So what the hell is she doing to make that much money? She must be an escort instead of a street prostitute. That was the only thing I was able to come up with.

  
Later that night I had decided that I needed to find out exactly what was going on with Starr and this twenty-grand-client. Something wasn’t right here. My stomach was in knots all day and I couldn’t just ignore that feeling. Luckily, Starr always has her location visible on SnapChat. It’s wrong to snoop, I get it, but I’m afraid for my best friend’s safety.

  
I knew for a fact that Starr was going to post a Snap of her glamorous outfit, so that meant she was about to leave. I knew I had to keep an eye on her location and hopefully, it wasn’t too far away. I had no idea where I was going to end up; if I had known beforehand, I would’ve wished Starr luck and stayed home. It only took about an hour for Starr’s story to be updated. She legitimately looked like royalty. She was wearing a ruby red dress covered in sequins with red pumps. Diamond bracelet, necklace, and earrings. Her makeup was no doubt professionally done since she credited her makeup artist for the black smokey eye look and fierce red lips. Starr’s chocolate brown hair was curled and pinned up with gorgeous side-swept bangs. I had never seen her look this gorgeous and instead of feeling happy for her, I was terrified thinking about what I was walking into.

  
I waited a little longer to leave my house until Starr’s location stopped changing somewhere fifty or so miles away from our town. My hands had been cold and trembling ever since I saw Starr all dolled up. I knew it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact address that Starr was at but I don’t mind driving around the area looking for her car. I’ll do what I have to just to make sure she’s safe.  
When I left my place, I thought about going back inside at least ten times before I was even down my driveway. Do I want to show up to the house of one of Starr’s clients? To make sure she’s safe? I’ll do it. What’s the worst that could happen?  
\---  
_Shit, I shouldn’t have said that._  
\---  
After about an hour of nervous driving, I finally made it to the town Starr had come to. I checked my SnapChat again to see if her location had changed. Luckily, it hadn’t. It took me about twenty minutes of driving around to find Starr’s car. She was parked in a driveway along with roughly ten more cars accompanying her. My stomach dropped and I knew something strange was going on. Even more strange than the fact that my best friend is a prostitute or whatever. I parked a block down from the house so I wouldn’t be spotted by some weirdo. I made sure I had my phone and mace before I got out of my car, locked it and made my way to the house. I didn’t knock. I honestly didn’t think I would be noticed because of the number of people inside.  
\---  
_Before I go on, please be aware that after I went inside, things got a bit blurry. I’m telling this story as someone who is scarred for life because of this, and this is what I haven’t repressed, yet._  
\---  
If I wasn’t frozen in my tracks, I would have immediately turned around and run back to my car. No one even noticed my presence, which I was thankful for, but the fact that I couldn’t move was terrifying. If someone spotted me, who knows what would happen? I could get shot in a second based on the look of the crowd. Other than myself, Starr was the only female in the house. The lights were red, all of the people gathered around were dressed in red, everything was red. There were small white coolers scattered around, and not the kind that you put drinks in.

My eyes locked on Starr, who was wearing surgical gloves covered in blood. As if on it’s own, my mouth kept trying to muster up a sentence, even one word would have sufficed. Nothing came out. There was a stench in the air that made my stomach turn; it reminded me of high school when we were dissecting pig fetuses: sterile yet disgusting.

  
After several minutes of paralysis, my feet slowly started to move closer and closer to the crowd of people. I hadn’t noticed that I was crying until I felt a tear drop onto my toe. My head unfroze and I looked down at my feet; my white flip flops looked red under the eerie lighting. I kept walking slowly towards the group, feeling more and more nauseous as I did so. More tears fell as I gazed upon a lifeless, naked body lying on a surgical table. It was a man, a younger man maybe in his late twenties. Both of his eyes were missing, half of his teeth had been extracted, and there was a long incision from his chest to his lower abdomen.

  
I watched in disbelief as Starr reached into the gash, pulled out a kidney, and placed it in one of the small white coolers. At that moment, I let out the loudest, most painful scream I had ever emitted. Everyone turned to look at me, Starr’s eyes burning into mine, and at that moment, everything went black.

  
I woke up on a couch hours later, thankful that I was still alive. My hands ran over every inch of my body, checking for wounds or missing appendages. Everything was intact. The smell was gone and there were no lights, no people, no coolers, and no surgical equipment. I felt for my phone and let out a sigh of relief when I discovered it was still in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that I had a text from an unknown number:

  
**-Please let me go. You won’t see me ever again. Forget what you saw. DO NOT text back, I’m serious. I love you always.-**  
\---  
_To this day, I don’t know if I had passed out in that house or if someone knocked me unconscious. After that night, the text message rang true. It’s been over a year and I haven’t seen or heard from Starr. I didn’t hear from her family regarding her disappearance, which was strange. I could only imagine the lies she told her parents to ease their minds._  
_All of Starr’s social media accounts were deleted and her cell phone had been disconnected. I have no clue where she is or if she’s even alive. I knew my gut was right from the beginning. Maybe if I had done something sooner, Starr would still be here with me. Wait, why would I want her here? She was harvesting organs for money. Who knows what other dark secrets she’s kept from me. Nothing could compare to this._

_Going to therapy twice a week can only do so much for a person. I have to forget this on my own. I know I’ll never be the same: I haven’t been able to speak a word since. This is the only way I can tell my story._


End file.
